Role of Micro and Nano Filler Combination in Hydrophobic Recovery of Glass Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites under Various Contaminants

Use as outdoor insulators in high voltage power transmission is a potential application of epoxy composites. Vulnerability of these insulators to various stresses when exposed to external environment, limit their potential. Better pollution performance in hostile environments can be achieved in these composites by using nano and micro combination of fillers. This paper discusses the merits of using combination of micro and nano fillers consisting of silica, alumina, ATH, CaCO3 and MgO in glass epoxy to demonstrate that they serve a better alternative to the conventional glass epoxy composite insulation systems. Extensive investigations have been carried out on hydrophobic recovery of these composites for understanding their pollution performance under various contaminants such as NaCl, seawater, acid and cement. The addition of filler combinations to glass epoxy enhanced the hydrophobic properties of the composites compared to the glass epoxy without fillers. The results revealed that the composite with MgO filler showed 37% increase in contact angle in as-cast form compared to contact angle of epoxy without fillers.